The Copa América has some unconventional participants this year. Due to the small size of the CONMEBOL (10 teams), additional invitees are required in order to create the tournament's typical 12-team structure.
Normally, these spaces would be filled by teams from CONCACAF, but because the Gold Cup is also this summer, CONMEBOL offered the spots to Japan and Qatar of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). So, while certainly unlikely, there is a possibility that Japan or Qatar will be crowned Copa America champion this summer.
Qatar has started the tournament well, managing to secure a 2-2 draw against a solid Paraguay side with its fluid ball movement.
#CA2019Telemundo ¡Linda jugada colectiva! y Qatar empata tras gol de Boualem Khoukhi
Paraguay 2-2 Qatar pic.twitter.com/GDnaV6hJDU— Telemundo Deportes (@TelemundoSports) June 16, 2019
While this side certainly doesn’t have any world-class names, they've proven that they aren’t the pushovers they were long-projected to be come the 2022 World Cup, managing to win the 2019 AFC Asian Cup for the first time back in February.
Asian Cup winners
Debut in the Copa AméricaQatar will be hoping to build on a very strong year pic.twitter.com/NWUqKb1hTO— Dugout (@Dugout) June 13, 2019
Despite its excellent performances this year, Qatar will have trouble making it out of its stacked group, which also contains title-hopefuls Argentina and Colombia.
Japan, who plays its first game tonight, has a slightly easier path to the knockout rounds, as the Samurai Blue share a group with Chile, Uruguay and Ecuador. That’s not to say these games wont be challenging — this young Japan squad is arguably only favored against Ecuador — and the physicality of the Chilean and Uruguayan sides may prove to be too much.
One player to watch out for on the squad is Takefusa Kubo, a talented 18-year-old who recently signed for Real Madrid after Barcelona had to release him from its academy due to youth-transfer policy violations.
Coined the “Japanese Messi," expect this young, tricky winger to give defenses trouble all tournament long.
The way he runs
The way he beats his manThis is why former Barcelona and new Real Madrid signing Takefusa Kubo has been labelled the 'Japanese Messi' pic.twitter.com/Qac5rPT8T9— Goal (@goal) June 14, 2019
This actually isn't Japan's first time playing in the Copa América. The side played in 1999, managing to secure only point from three games. Japan will hope for a much stronger performance this time around.
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